Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President Chen Chien-jen (R) wave to members of the media during a event celebrating the upcoming Journalist Day, in Taipei, Taiwan, August 20, 2016. REUTERS/Fabian Hamacher

Taiwan says unofficial communication channels remain with China

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Saturday that unofficial communication channels with China remain in place despite Beijing in June suspending contacts because the island’s new leader would not endorse the concept of a “One China” principle.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President Chen Chien-jen (R) wave to members of the media during an event celebrating the upcoming Journalist Day, in Taipei, Taiwan, August 20, 2016. REUTERS/Fabian Hamacher

The Chinese government blamed the self-ruled island earlier this week for the breakdown of communications.

The DailyBrief

Must-reads from across Asia - directly to your inbox

China, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province, has been unsettled by Tsai, who took office in May, as she has been reluctant to disavow calls for formal independence.

“While the official mechanism of communication has not been restored, unofficial communication channels with the mainland remain available,” she told reporters, without elaborating.

“We hope both sides maintain stability, so there won’t be any misunderstanding or misjudgement on either side,” she said.

Tsai, who heads the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, reiterated she wanted to maintain the status quo in cross-strait relations, but said “there is no magic medicine” to resolve the existing strains.

China has insisted Tsai must recognise the “1992 consensus” reached between China’s Communists and Taiwan’s then-ruling Nationalists – the political basis for the one China principle – although each have their own interpretation of what that means.

After the defeated Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan following a civil war with the Communists in 1949, China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.